1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to extractors.
More particularly the invention relates to extractors for extracting liquid and/or pulp from a food product, for example for pulping soft or fibrous products and particularly for pulping food products such as fruit, vegetables and meat for extracting juice and pulp from those products. The invention is particularly applicable to the extraction of tomato juice and pulp from tomatoes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One form of extractor or pulper currently in use comprises a housing of cylindrical form in which a cylindrical sieve is mounted and a central shaft carries a series of fixed beaters each in one piece extending along the length of the housing, and which rotate adjacent to the sieve. The number of these beaters may vary, and at most four such fixed beaters have been spaced around the shaft. The product to be pulped is fed into the space in which the fixed beaters rotate. The beaters force pulp and juice through the sieve and the juice and pulp collects in the bottom of the housing where there is a discharge orifice.
If there is irregular feeding of the product to be pulped there may be a build-up of the product in the space where the beaters rotate, and it has been found that the resistance to rotation offered by the build-up results in strain on the drive motor coupled to the shaft carrying the beaters, and the motor may slow down and overheat. If such a build-up occurs there is a tendency for excessive squeezing of the product against the sieve and this can cause damage to the sieve and can also cause damage to seeds or peel in the pulper, which are normally discharged as waste products, such damage resulting in the release of undesirable bitter extracts into the juice or pulp.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide an extractor which overcomes these disadvantages and which provides a more efficient unit with a higher product yield and avoids breakages due to irregular loading of a product into the extractor.